The following related application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety:
U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/594,308 entitled xe2x80x9cBusiness Method for Using Complementary Colored Background Wallpaper and CPU Design,xe2x80x9d filed concurrently by Kevin L. Massaro and Stacy L. Wolff.
The present invention relates to computer housings and, more specifically, to a readily attachable and removable faceplate for a computer housing.
Personal computers are generally comprised of three physical components. There is the main system unit which holds the computer operation internals such as power supply, circuit boards and disk drives. A keyboard is used for data entry and a display screen or monitor is provided for display of the data. This arrangement is, of course, very well known. Until recent years all of these components have been arranged for a desk top with the keyboard placed in front of the system unit and the display screen or monitor placed on top of the main system unit. Because such arrangements required considerable desk space, the computer industry developed xe2x80x9ctower units.xe2x80x9d Tower units are generally rectangular or box-like housings adapted to sit on the floor and typically include a disk drive bay located in the upper part of the tower unit so that a user may easily access and operate the tower unit from a desk chair.
Home computer systems are now being developed which incorporate housings having a decorative front side. While many users prefer xe2x80x9cstylizedxe2x80x9d looking housings, there are no available computer housing configurations that allow a user to easily customize the xe2x80x9clookxe2x80x9d of an individual computer housing to accommodate personal preferences. Even if a user were to change the faceplate on a conventional computer housing, the computer housing would require that a user manipulate various tools to remove fasteners and portions of the computer housing before being able to remove the old faceplate and installing a new faceplate. This can result in an usually untrained computer owner exposing the sheet metal used to form the frame of the housing and exposing the internal components of the computer to the atmosphere which can result in the components being damaged. Additionally, reassembling the computer housing with the new faceplate can be a difficult and confusing task for the computer owner.
Accordingly, what is needed, but not so far provided by the conventional art, is a faceplate that is readily attachable and removable to a computer housing to allow users to easily interchange or replace an existing faceplate preferable without having to use tools to remove fasteners securing the faceplate and that allows users to easily customize the xe2x80x9clookxe2x80x9d of their computer housings.
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a housing for a central processing unit including a body capable of supporting and enclosing the central processing unit. The body has a front side including an upper portion and a lower portion. A first decorative faceplate is detachably engagable with at least a portion of the upper portion of the front side of the body. A first-faceplate-quick-connect-device extends from the first decorative faceplate for readily attaching and removing the first decorative faceplate to the body.
The present invention is alternatively directed to a housing for a central processing unit including a body capable of supporting and enclosing the central processing unit. The body has a front side including an upper portion and a lower portion. A first decorative faceplate is detachably engagable with at least a portion of the upper portion of the front side of the body. A second decorative faceplate is detachably engagable with at least a portion of the lower portion of the front side of the body. A second-faceplate-quick-connect-device is disposed on the body for readily attaching and removing the second decorative faceplate to the body.
The present invention is alternatively directed to an attachment for a computer housing including a decorative faceplate. A quick connect device is attached to the decorative faceplate for readily attaching and removing the decorative faceplate to the computer housing.